Do you like Tricycle? Maybe so much you'd like to work here? Now's your chance. A full-time editorial assistant position for the print magazine is now available. The job description and details on how to apply are after the jump.
More »

Ezra Klein on the wisdom and all-around goodness of eating less meat. I hadn't thought of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich being a "plant-based lunch" before:
Each time you have a plant-based lunch like a PB&J you'll reduce your carbon footprint by the equivalent of 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over an average animal-based lunch like a hamburger, a tuna sandwich, grilled cheese, or chicken nuggets. For dinner you save 2.8 pounds and for breakfast 2.0 pounds of emissions.
Those 2.5 pounds of emissions at lunch are about forty percent of the greenhouse gas emissions you'd save driving around for the day in a hybrid instead of a standard sedan.
PB&J three meals a day?
More »

The Burmese junta has signed the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) charter but the body expressed its "deep disappointment" with the junta nonetheless.
ASEAN has been spectacularly ineffective in accomplishing anything vis a vis the junta. Burma's profusion of oil, lumber, and gemsmake confronting the junta costly, especially for nations that don't have the luxury the U.S. has -- borrowing more money from China to cover any shortfalls.
Nargis is said to have caused $4 billion in damage, and will cost $1 billion will be needed over the next three years to aid survivors.
More »

The great religious figures are not philosophers, they're not historians, they're not institutional leaders in any sense. They are people who inspire the imagination and therefore deserve the word "poet."
In Salon, religious studies scholar James Carse argues that religion does not necessitate belief -- but that poetry is necessary to religion. His new book is The Religious Case Against Belief.
More »

Mikel Dunham has an excellent and heartening post on Nepal and it's newborn democracy. You really can't beat Mikel's blog for news on Nepal.
And the estimable Danny Fisher has an update (from the Washington Post) about the new generation of activists in Burma.
More »

It was a tiny feather, not more than an inch and a half in length, pale gray and barely discernible against the matching gray surface of the sidewalk. And then there was a second feather as well. It’s unlikely that I’d have noticed them at all if a little breeze hadn’t blown them about just as I came along. This was in mid-August, and the House Sparrows that nest in the hollows and crevices under the eaves of the building that houses Chico Natural Foods we’re beginning their fall molt from breeding plumage into their winter feathers.
More »

The Economist has published a lengthy report on the mass uprisings in Tibet earlier this year.
The article is written from magazine's signature centrist point of view, and takes a relatively non-judgmental stance. The most interesting part is the author's musings on China's response to the riots in March.
In a perplexing course of action, China did not react to the initial unrest with their usual level of brutal efficiency (several people were still killed). As a result, the chaos was allowed to spread far further than it may have otherwise.
The article then goes on to offer cynical speculation on the motives of the Chinese government for their actions at the time(an excuse for the later wide-scale clampdown of the region, or caution leading up to the Olympics?), and then, the motives of all involved parties in general.
More »

This may have been done before, but it's new to me, at least as far as I can remember. It comes courtesy of Frank Olinsky (who designed the cover for Juliana Hatfield's new memoir, how cool is that?) -- There's a car company called out there called ZENN (Zero Emission, No Noise.) I don't really know what to say about that. Noble silence?
Danny Fisher has a clip of Lama Surya Das, one of the great and persistent proponents of Buddhist humor, on the Colbert Report talking about Barack Obama. For some reason this blogpost feels very name-droppy. I saw Billy Crystal at the airport Thursday night.
More »

The New York Times ran a brief piece on Burmese Buddhists celebrating Waso in Prospect Heights. In Burma, the full-moon day of Waso "marks the day of the Buddha’s first sermon and the start of a monsoon season retreat, a time of contemplation during which monks do not travel."
More »

Manhattanites in the mood for Mark Matousek can head to the Barnes and Noble at 97 Warren St tonight at 7 pm. He'll be reading from his new book, When You’re Falling, Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living.
More »

Tonight on PBS's Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly: an interview with the Seventeenth Karmapa. From the press release:
In a conversation with correspondent Kim Lawton, the Karmapa Lama talks about his increasing public role and how he can help the modern world better understand the teachings and main purpose of Buddhism: "It does seem to be the case that I am receiving more and more recognition in the world. And my main aspiration is that I use this recognition for a beneficial purpose . . . The essential points of Buddhism are beyond culture and beyond traditions."
The interview will be available online at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/index_flash.html after 8:30 pm today, or watch tonight at 5 pm EST (check your local listings).
More »

Drama: No other word quite encapsulates recent happenings so well. It's only barely an irreverent choice of words, considering the almost comical amount of nothing changing.
First off, belated, but... Happy Birthday, His Holiness the Dalai Lama! Apparently, that is about as exuberant as the actual celebrations were.
"Tibetans all over the world will be praying today for the long life of the Dalai Lama. But as the situation in Tibet continues to be bad, we have decided to not hold any cultural song and dance event to mark the event," -Thupten Samphel, spokesman of the exiled government.
More »

Dosho Port is musing about power and Zen, in both the traditional Japanese and modern American contexts, over at his Wild Fox Zen blog: Why Teacher-Student Relationships Often Get Wacky.
. . . power relationships are usually unspoken and yet are among the most important factors in organizations as well as in relationships, but Zen folk often tend not to want to talk about power. It isn't considered polite.
His full reflection is definitely worth reading, and if you've got something to share, he's invited comments on the thread.
More »

The New York Times has a lengthy article on Mogaoku, the "peerless caves" in Dunhuang, China. Decorated with devotional paintings and sculptures dating back to the fifth century, the caves are rapidly deteriorating due to increased tourism as well as the natural ravages of time. Writer Holland Cotter muses,
The question of access versus preservation is a poignant one and is by no means confined to Mogaoku. It applies to many fragile monuments. What are we willing to give up to keep what we have?
More »